Just got back from Huston Texas. It was my first time at a major film festival and first time visiting Texas. I had a great time in Huston and now want to see more of the southern states. I’m also really inspired to make more films. I met some great people at worldfest who I hope to stay in touch with and maybe work with one day.
The festival had a lot of perks too. Not only did I get to watch a lot of great films, we were treated to a tour of the NASA space centre, yachting, all you can eat BBQ, and the awards gala had delicious food complimented with great entertainment. However what I got most out of this experience was inspiration. Hanging out will all kinds of filmmakers hearing about their process, their experiences, seeing their great films, is inspiring and motivating. I wasn’t sure what I was in for when I booked my flights, I had my doubts about the usefulness of coming down here. Right now I’m extremely busy with my day job, i shouldn’t be taking any time off to be go on “vacation”. This trip wouldn’t have been worth my time if it was just a fun time. Although it was a hell of a lot of fun, the excitement I feel about filmmaking right now is priceless. That comes from the quality time I had just shooting the shit with the cool people I met there.

WorldFest-Houston is one of the three original international film festivals in North America, after San Francisco and New York. It was founded in 1961 as Cinema Arts, an International Film Society. WorldFest/Cinema Arts became a competitive International Film Festival in 1967 and presented its first edition in April 1968. It is the only international film festival in North America to be dedicated completely to independent films, as it does not accept films from the major studios. The festival was founded by producer/director Hunter Todd to present a film festival for independent filmmakers. WorldFest-Houston is the oldest film festival in the South of the USA and its Founding Director Hunter Todd is now the longest running film festival director in the world, having started the festival in 1961.

Proud to announce Laundry Day will be in the Canada International Film Festival and the Animation Torrent festival!

Very excited about both these. Laundry day has won the Royal Reel award for animation at the Canada International, the first win for our film!! This fest will be in my home town of Vancouver, Canada. The Festival will take place March 28th-29th 2014.

I’m really proud to be in the Animation Torrent festival, april 17th in Chicago. Getting in this festival was really important to me because the judges are two people who have had a significant influence on my animation. I first saw Bill Plymptons work when my parents took me to the “Spike and Mike festival of animation” in the late 80’s. That’s when I realized animation was much more than Walt Disney. PES is also judging the films. Laundry Day is inspired by his hilarious and unique short films.

For years I’ve wanted to make my own film. Unfortunately lack of time, money and know-how were getting in the way. …Or so I thought.

I’ve working as a CG animator for quite a while now, and have worked on many films, but that’s much different than being a film maker. Animation is very focused work its rare that I get see how the frames I’m working on relate to the whole picture. The long hours don’t leave me with much free time. I’ve never had much formal training in cinematography, editing, sound design and many of the other skill needed to make a film. So how the hell was I going to make a short film I could be proud of. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and not doing much else. Then the idea for a short about the missing socks came a long and I realized despite all my so-called limitations, that was an idea I could work with.

I wanted to make a live action film but animation is my strength. Using stop motion animation I could make a live action film but still use one of my strengths to enhance it. Animating relatively simple characters and having it set in my apartment gave me the flexibility to work on it when ever I had the spare time. I have several talented friends who I consulted repeatedly through out the production. My friends (and google search) taught me about as much as any pricy film school could. As for all the expensive equipment I needed, my friends came through on that one too!

I am proud to announce that Laundry Day has been accepted to the Festival Sayulita.

“The first annual Festival Sayulita, presented by SayulitaBeach.com, is a unique gathering for all lovers of Mexico, film, tequila, food, music and surf to be held Jan 16-19th in the idyllic coastal town of Sayulita, Nayarit. Sayulita provides a scenic, bohemian background perfect for this international festival. Creative and provocative films will be shown in various venues throughout the town. Additional events include tequila and food pairings, master tequila tastings, beach-front film venues, private screenings and live music.”

Sayulita is a great town! I recommend a visit to anyone looking to get away. The sequel to Laundry Day might be “Socks In Sayulita”